Railway-switch.



No. 658,294. Patented Sept. l8, I900,

A. A. STRDM.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

licaticn filed Jul 16, 1900 W "Hm w 968 5726566 Inventors UNITED STATESPATENT omce.

AXEL A. STROM, OF AUSTIN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE S'IROM MANU-FACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 658,294, dated September18, 1900.

Application filed July 16, 1900- Serial No. 23,759. (No mbdel.) v

To all whon'z/ it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AXEL A. STROM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Austin, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and uset'nllmprovement in Railway-Switches, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The wear to which the diiferent parts of a switch are subjected in useis so great as to render necessary the provision of adjusting means fortaking up or compensating for this wear. For the purpose of taking upthe wear with the desirable degree of fineness I devised the inventionset forth in Letters Patent of the United States No. 625,961, dated -May30, 1899, and have devised the modification forming an improvement onthe particular mechanism shown and described in the aforesaid patent andwhich is set forth in my application for an improvement inrailway-switches, Serial No. 23,215, filed July 11, 1900. Theswitch-rail adj ustmeut'for taking up the wear in 'a split switch whichis shown and described in the said patent and that which is shown anddescribed in my said applioation both involve the same principle ofconstruction and operation, namely: The medium (clip) which serves toconnect the pointrail with the tie-bar contains an opening in which isadjustably seated an eccentric, through the eccentric opening in which,as also through the tie-bar, is passed a pin for pivotally connectingtogether the tie-bar and clip to effect the required connection betweenthe point-rail and switch-stand. The wear on the parts is taken up byadjusting the eccentric in its seat to set the poin t-rail closer to theadjacent main rail of the switch in accordance with the extent of wearon the parts, and a permanently=fixed stop is provided on either theclip or the eccentric to engage one of a series of stops of anysnitableform on the other for locking the eccentric in its adjusted position. Ineffecting this adjustment it is desirablethat the operator shall beenabled conveniently and accurately to gage its extent, and for thispurpose I' provide as the subject of this application suitable gagingmeans equipped with an index, shown in th accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 shows a cross-section of a split switch equipped with myimprovement. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the clip; Fig. 3, atop plan viewof the eccentric, provided with a dial on its upper surface, and Fig.4.- a bottomplan View of the eccentric.

A denotes one of the main rails of a split switch, and A is'the adjacentpoint-rail, to which is fastened, as usual, one end of a clip B. In thetail portion aof the clip is provided a circular opening (1, affording aseat for the eccentric C, shown as a circular block 0 having adisk-shaped flange 0' about its upper end and containing the eccentricopening 0 The block 0 fits adjustably in the opening I), about which itrests at its flange c on the part a of the clip, and the latter at itstail portion with the eccentric are shown embraced in a jaw (1, providedon the adjacent end of the tie-bar D for connecting the pointrail withthe switch-stand, (not shown,) the tie-bar and clip being connectedpivotally together by a pin 6, passing through the jaw and the eccentricopening 0 and held against withdrawal, as by means of a cotter e.

To adjust the point-rail, the clip part of theadjustment is'disconnectedfrom the tiebar to permit access to the eccentric part of theadjustment, which latter is then raised out of the clipopeniug b to freethe stopsf (shown as studs depending from the under side of the flangec) from the hole-shaped openings g,(shown to be provided about theopening 0 in the tail portion of the clip,) each forming apermanently-fixed stop, the engagement with which of the stud-stopslocks the eccentric in any position of its adjustment. Upon thus raisingthe eccentric it is turned in accordance with the degree desired ofadjustment and then put back into the opening b, whereby thest-udsfenter the respectively-coincident holes g to lock the eccentric,when the clip is again introduced into the jaw d and the pin 6 isadjusted and fastened in place for pivotally joiningthe 5 clip with thetie-bar. Two of the studs f are shown to be provided, and a pluralitythereof is desirable for purposes of strength and durability, though oneis all that is necessary.

It may be the matter of the general arrangement of the locking means forthe eccentric which forms the subjectof my present invention.

The stops g for the studs should preferably be relatively so spaced asto produce equal degrees of adjustment about the opening 1). Thus theadjustment may be provided for in sixteenths of an inch, as shown by wayof example. The diameter of each opening g must obviously be sufficientto admit into it a stud j, which should be adequately thick to afi'ordthe strength requisite to resist the strains to \Vlllth the point-railis subjected in use. If, therefore; these holes were to be provided therelative distances apart. for the'predetermined steps of adjustment inregular succession about the opening I) with the width of clip employed,their extent of separation would not he sufficient to prevent them fromintersecting each other or, at least, not. enough material would be leftinterposed between them for strength. This might of course be obviatedby increasing the width of the tail portion of the clip, when the seriesof openingsg the predetermined distance apart could be caused to extendpart wayabout the opening Z); but this is impracticable. I thereforeprovide for effecting the adjustment by turning the eccentric in onedirection for the, minimum extent thereof, in' the opposite directionfor the next higher degree, back again beyond the first point for thenext higher, and in the contrary direction beyond the sec.- ond pointfor the next higher, and so on throughout the entire extent of thecircle on which the adjusting is performed. This I accomplish byarranging the locking-holes g,

as represented in Fig. 2, with thehole for the.

original setting at the given point 0 opposite an indexmark X and inradial line with the eccentric center; with the hole nextadjacentthereto on the right (regarded from the tail end of the clip) at 1, thedistance from said center according to the predetermined rate ofadjustment; with the hole nextadjacent thereto on the left at 2,approximately twice that distance away from said center; the next holeon the right at 3, approximately three. times that distance away fromthe eccentric center; the next hole on the left at 4, approximately fourtimes that distance, and so on throughout the entire extent for whichadjust: ment is provided. By this arrangement the locking-points areprovided to alternate in the.

order of the predetermined degrees of adj Stir. ment and form two seriesextending from the point of initial setting or zero-point in rela-.

tively-contrary directions about the eccentric,

and in this way the comparatively-narrow space afforded by the tail,portion of the clip is rendered practically available. Of course thedegrees of adjustment may be divided, according to desire, intootherfractions of an inch than the sixteenths shown.

For facilitating the adjusting operation I provide on the top of theeccentric O a dial E,

with numbers radially arranged according to the number of fractionalparts into which the entire extent ofadjustlnent is divided--thus in theorder 2 4 6 8 1O 12 14 in one direction about the eccentric from thezero-point and the order 1 3 5 7 9 ll 13 15in the contrary directionabout the eccentric from that pointand the arrangement accords with thepositions of the locking-stop openings g. Thus 0 denotes the point oforiginal settin; of the eccentric. To bring the point-rail one-sixteenthof an inch nearer to the main rail, the eccentric is raised in themanner hereiubel'ore de scribed and turned to the right till the number1 on the dial E coincides with the index-point X, when the eccentric isreplaced in that position in the opening I). To bring the point-railtwo-sixteenths of an inch nearer to the main rail, the turning of theeccentric should be toward the left till the number 2 coincides with theindex-point, and so on, being, according to the particular arrangementshown,- turned toward the right for the adjustment to odd numbers ofsixteenths and toward the left for the adjustment to even numbersthereof.

While I have shown my improvement as adapted for use in connection withthe particular means of adjustment set forth in my said application, itis applicable to the means shown in my aforesaid patent and to any othermeans for the adjusting purpose involving the same principle ofconstruction and operation, and I intend that my invention shall beunderstood as including such general application. For the purpose of myimprovementit is not necessary, though prefenable, that the series ofstops 9 or their equivalent in any other form shall be arrangedatvaryiug intervals about the eccentric, for they may be arranged atequal intervals and the desired adjustment may be effected by the userby merely observing the indications or numbers arranged on-the dial withone order of progression extending about it inone directionfrom thegiven point Oandthe other order of progression extending therefrom inthe contrary direction about the dial.

WhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by, Letters Patent, is-- 1. Inaswitch-railadjustment,tl1e combination,w-ith the clip partfastened tothe switchrail, of an eccentric part pivotally connecting theclip withthe tie-bar and adapted to be adjnsted'by turning, a series of stopsarranged about the eccentric on one of said parts,-one or more stops onthe other said part to engage with astop in said series for locking theeccentric in its adjusted position, and a dial on the eccentric havingaprogressionof numbers extending part way about it in one direction froma given point and another progression of numbers extending part wayabout it in the contrary direction from said point, whereby the usershall be guided in turning the eccentric alternatelyin contrarydirections for effecting different extents of the adjustment,substantially as described.

2. In a switch-rail adjustment, the combinati on with the clip partfastened to the switchrail, of an eccentric part pivotally connectingthe clip with the tie-bar and adapted to be adjusted by turning, aseries of stops arranged at intervals denoting a progression offractions of an inch for the adjustment, and extending in one directionabout said eccentric from a given point, a series of stops arranged atintervals denoting another progression of fractions of an inch for theadjustment, a1- ternating with those in the other series and extendingfrom said given point in the contrary direction about said eccentric, astop on the other said part to engage with a stop in either of saidseries for locking the eccentric in its adjusted position, and a dial onthe eccentric carrying radially-arranged characters in seriesextendingiu contrary directions about its center from a given point, thecharacters in each series denoting a progression of intervals ofadjustment alternating with those in the other series, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. In a switch-rail adjustment,thecombination with the clip fastened tothe switch-rail and provided with an opening and with a series ofstop-openings arranged about said opening substantially as described, ofan eccentric confined in said clip-opening and having a pin extendingthrough its opening and through said tie-bar to connect said bar andclip pivotally together, a flange about said eccentric carrying one or.more stops to engage with said stop-openings, and a dial on saideccentric having a series of radially-disposed odd numbers extending atintervals from zero in one direction about its center and a series ofradially-disposed even numbers extending atintervals from said zero inthe contrary direction about its center, said numbers in regularsuccession indicating the predetermined intervals through which to turnthe eccentric for adjusting the switch-rail and at which to lock theeccentric in its adjusted position, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

AXEL A. STROM. In presence of- M. J. FROST, A. D. BAOOI.

